When Sakura Fall
by ShuichiShindouAuthor
Summary: A mysterious mute comes across Shigure's home after the orphanage, which was where she stayed at, burned down. Rated T for now will go up in later chapters AkitoxOC pairing it's my first fanfic, so R&R, please! SPOILER WARNING
1. Budding

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I only own Sara Tsuko. Don't sue; you'll get nowhere fast.

Author's note: This story takes place like…a month after the Anime takes place. Meaning, yes, the Akito in this story is male.

* * *

Sitting down before the head of the family, Shigure bowed his head, "Akito…"

"Shigure!"

The dog's head snapped up with a slight look of terror upon his face, "Yes…Akito?"

Akito stood, his back to Shigure, gazing out of the round window of the room, "That other girl…I want you to bring her here."

Shigure's mouth twitched, "Why-"

Akito put up his hand to silence the other man, "I allowed that…_Tohru Honda_…" he spat it out as if it were a curse word, "to live there without a meeting first, but I won't do it again. Bring her here."

Dropping his head in defeat, Shigure stood up and opened the sliding door to leave, but he didn't make it very far before he heard Akito whisper, "Yes…bring her here tomorrow afternoon…"

So, Shigure left.

* * *

A day before Shigure went and had that conversation with Akito, a young girl, only seventeen years old, came upon Shigure's home. Her house had burned down in a fire, and she was the only survivor…her house was the city orphanage.

She, Sara Tsuko, came to Shigure's house around midnight when a red glow filled the night sky like a sunrise that came to early. Sara was covered in black soot, her hair was damp since it was raining outside, her clothing (a light blue long night dress) had burn marks, and her arms had small burns on them. Her dark green eyes pleaded for help…So, a very sleeping Shigure, Yuki, Kyou, and Tohru took her in and helped nurse her wounds and to clean her up a bit.

The next day, when Shigure went to tell Akito of the girl, somehow, Akito already knew about her, and that conversation occurred. When Shigure was having that conversation, Sara was in bed, sleeping peacefully, Tohru was cooking Sara some soup, Yuki was re-bandaging the girl's wounds and Kyou was downstairs, helping out by cleaning up the house since the events from last night caused the house to be covered in soot and dirt.

When the front door to the house slid open, Kyou stopped his cleaning and looked up to see Shigure with a dark expression, "…What'd he say, Shigure?"

Shigure's expression deepened, "…He wants to meet with her tomorrow afternoon."

Kyou nodded slowly, "Should we all go, too, or what?"

The dog shook his head, "No, you, Yuki and Tohru don't have to go. I will."

With that, he took off his shoes and walked up the staircase to Tohru's room, which was where they all agreed to put Sara (especially since Tohru insisted that Sara stay in her room).

Once upstairs, Shigure slowly made his way across the small upstairs hallway until he was at the open door to Tohru's room, "Achem!"

Yuki looked up from his first-aid kit and blinked, "Oh, Shigure. Welcome back. What did Akito have to say about Sara?"

Shigure still had that dark expression on his face, "He wants to meet Sara tomorrow afternoon.

Yuki gained a dark expression of his own, "I see…should we all go, or-"

"No, I'll go with her. The less people, the better, I think…Akito still doesn't feel any better toward Tohru, either…" he turned to look at Sara in the big pink, fluffy bed, "…he's still bitter…"

A long silence went by when Tohru and Kyou appeared behind Shigure in the doorway, "Shigure…?"

He turned around to find Tohru and Kyou standing there, Tohru with a worried look, "Are you sure that we shouldn't come, too, Shigure?"

The novelist nodded and looked down at Sara's sleeping face, "It will be safer if I just go…It'll be safer if less of us are there. There'll be a better chance for her to stay if I just go alone."

End of Chapter 1

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Shuichi: Woo! My first REAL fanfic! I know what you're all thinking, "'Real fanfic'?" And that's because I've gotten ideas before, but I've never actually gone ahead and made them. So, here I am, with my first fanfic! Please be nice and read and review! If you flame me with a dumb comment…be expecting the same, pal! –Insert maniacal laughter here- oh, and sorry if the characters seem a bit Out Of Character (OOC), but don't worry! It'll get better in later chapters. 


	2. Speak Girl

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I only own Sara Tsuko. Don't sue; you'll get nowhere flat.

Shuichi: Oh me, oh my! My second chapter! And I will now thank my VERY FIRST REVIEWER! WOOO!

quillian91 : I agree with you on the OOCness of Shigure, but it's true, it's rather hard to be yourself when you're around Akito-sama. xx Any ways, in this chapter, you'll get what you wanted…and you know what I mean. - (glee)

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Chapter 2

Shigure and Sara were walking to the Sohma estate in silence. Shigure wore his suit with his hair slicked back while Sara was wearing a cute summer dress with cherry blossoms all over its light blue background (it's Tohru's dress) and her long blue/black hair was in a braid that went down to her waist. She stood about 5' tall and she had relatively pale skin with shinning green eyes.

After walking what seemed more like a death march, they reached the Sohma estate. Entering through the main gates, Sara and Shigure made their way to the main house.

Between the time that they entered the main gates and the time that they had made it to the main house, Sara was gazing around with complete awe written across her face. She'd never seen anything like it before: little oriental houses around the place, cars in the driveways, and lovely little flower beds in front of the those little houses. This place didn't seem so bad, Sara had thought. It couldn't be that bad…could it?

The long walk soon brought them to Akito's door to his room. Shigure knocked. Akito mumbled, "Come in," and they both entered, Shigure first, then Sara. Shigure led Sara over to the middle of the large room and sat her down before sitting about five feet behind Sara. Akito was sitting in a chair about three feet in front of Sara.

Akito was the first to speak, "Welcome, stranger," his voice was calm and it didn't sound very welcoming, "Tell me…who are you…why are you here…why did you go to Shigure's house…?"

Matter of fact…he sounded like he wanted to kill something.

At first, silence just filled the room. Akito opened his mouth to start to speak, but was stopped when Sara suddenly stood up and walked over to Akito's desk, took a sheet of blank paper and picked up a pen and started scribbling something on the paper.

While she stood there writing on the paper, Akito held a confused expression, while Shigure looked grim.

She put down the pen and walked over to Akito and handed him the sheet of paper, then sat back down in her spot on the floor.

Akito read the sheet of paper to himself and as he read, his expression turned from angry/confused/murderous, to being a little bit softer and a bit shocked and even more confused.

Shigure decided to try and play his hand (a poker term), "Akito…what does it say?"

"…I'm honored to meet you, Akito-sama. My name is Sara Tsuko and I'm seventeen years old. The orphanage was where I lived until it burned down. I had lived there since I can remember. I came to Shigure-sensei's house when I was running away from the burning down building. Shigure and the other nice people that live in that house took me in and took care of me, no questions asked…"

Akito stared at the piece of paper for a moment before setting his hand that held the piece of paper on his lap. He seemed rather calm and collected…up until he stood up and took her by the arm, shaking her and holding fury in his eyes, "WHAT DO YOU TAKE ME FOR! A COMPLETE FOOL! DO YOU THINK THAT I'D JUST BELIEVE SOMETHING THAT WAS WRITTEN ON A PIECE OF PAPER? SPEAK, **GIRL**!"

Sara was shaking with Akito's grip on her arm, tears were flowing from her emerald eyes as she choked out gasping noises and strangled noises, "Ah…ak…aah…..eh…i…a….hhaa.." it was only after she couldn't make full words that it dawned on Akito: this girl really couldn't talk.

And so…he let go of her arm and backed away a few steps with a look of horror on his face, "…You…..you can't really…talk…can you?"

His voice was calm and shaky.

She nodded several times, tears still going down her face. Akito glared a head of him at the far wall, not making any kind of eye contact with Sara, "…Shigure!"

Shigure's head snapped up, "Yes, Akito?"

"Shigure…does she know…?"

"No, she doesn't."

"…if she is to live there, she should know, now, shouldn't she?"

* * *

End of Chapter 2

Shuichi: Oooooh, I know, I'm EVIL, aren't I? –dodges random flying fruits and vegetables- Hmm…salad. ; ACHEM, anyways, as a fanfic reader myself, I know how horrible it is to have a cliff-hanger…so, ya know what that means? Reviews make me happy, so the more reviews, the faster the chapter comes out. –giggle-


	3. Life changing decisions

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of its characters. I only own Sara Tsuko. Don't sue; you'll get nowhere flat.

Shuichi: Thanks to my two (damn, that's a low amount of people. o.o ) reviewers for giving me the nice comments! YOU TWO ROCK! lol Okay, on with the story.

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Chapter 3

Shigure blinked and his mouth was slightly open, "Wh…what?"

Akito glared down at Shigure, "…Do not make me repeat myself…"

Shigure nodded, and turned to Sara, "…Sara…I'm sorry…" a small smile went on his face, "HUG ME!" his voice went all cute-ish and slightly high-pitched and caused Akito to sweat drop.

At first, Sara had a confused look, and then looked a little scared when Shigure opened up his arms as if he seriously wanted a hug. A hug…at a time like this…IS HE INSANE? (I think we all know the answer to that one.) Sara was about to stand up and run, but Shigure was too quick. He had his arms around her faster than you could say dog…of which was exactly what Shigure turned into. In a poof of smoke, a black dog was sitting before a very confused and slightly faint looking Sara. If Akito wasn't so pissed off, he might have laughed, at least a little bit.

But that was not the case. Akito heaved a sigh and put a hand on his forehead, "…Shigure, get to the point…"

The black dog nodded and then…began to speak, "Sara…as you've probably already figured out, I'm Shigure."

Sara now was staring at the dog, wide eyed and mouth slightly hanging open.

"Yes, yes, I know, it's odd. But, our family, the Sohma's I mean, have a curse. There's twelve of us who are haunted by the vengeful spirits of the animals of the zodiac. I'm the dog, the red head at the house, Kyou…he's our odd member, the thirteenth member, the cat, and Yuki, the calm boy who was tending to your wounds is the rat. You see, when a member of the opposite sex either hugs one of us, or when our bodies are under a lot of stress, we turn into our animals. Akito is the head of our family, as you know. Only one problem, though…When we transform back, we're-"

POOF!

A nice black smoke effect later, there was a totally naked Shigure sitting on the floor, trying to cover himself up. Akito tossed Shigure his outer kimono with a glare, "Go get dressed…" And with that, Shigure stood up and was about to leave and ended it with, "Sorry about that…eh, heh…the time of our transformations very every time…I'll go change now…" and with that, he was gone through the sliding doors into the room, leaving Akito and Sara by themselves.

Sara looked up to Akito shyly and then looked back down again at the floor. She was very confused, especially after what she just saw. Akito, noticing this, looked away and out the circle window, "…do you still wish to live in that house?"

His voice was calm, and soft.

She looked up to him and opened her mouth as if she was trying to say something, but she couldn't say a word. Making a frustrating sound in her throat, she stood up and went over to Akito's desk again, got herself a small pad of paper and a pen and went and sat back down on the floor in her spot. Once seated, she started writing something on the note pad. She then handed it to Akito for him to read.

It simply read, "I don't know."

Akito made a "humph" sound and turned his back to her and faced a painting on the back wall of the room just as Shigure entered the room, dressed in a dark green yukata holding Akito's fancy outer kimono, draped over one arm, "I'm back. If we have nothing else to say, I guess we should get go-"

"She's not going back to your house."

Shigure paused and looked shocked and alarmed, "…what…?"

Akito still had his back turned, "She's not…going back…to your house…is that clear?"

"But, Akito-"

"SILENCE!"

"…"

During this dialogue, Sara was just sitting there in the middle of the room, looking very confused, "Ah…ahh…."

Akito turned around, a small smile on his face…but it was slightly different from what his normal smile was (which those smiles are normally very sadistic and evil.), "She will be staying here for a little while…I wish to learn more about this girl before I allow her anywhere near Yuki…understood?"

Being bound to the word of the head of the family (cough, cough), Shigure nodded, and bowed and made to leave. Before he left, he looked over his shoulder and gave an encouraging smile to Sara.

He was gone through the door. Once again, Sara and Akito were left alone, by themselves.

End Chapter Three

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Shuichi: So, there's the third chapter. I hope ya'll like it. It is another kind of cliff hanger, and I'm sorry! But I gotta make it good so that people will want to read more! That's the whole point of cliff hangers right? -a pin drops- ...cough yeah...so, anywho, read and review please! I love reviews, and reviews make me happy! And a happy writer makes good chapters come out. -


	4. A Walk To Remember

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket or any of it's characters. If you wanna sue me…well, too bad! Because it'll be a losing case! Nyaa!

Ed: Thanks so much for the reviews! Reviews keep me happy, ya know! -glee- anywho, here's the next chapter, I hope ya like!

* * *

A good solid minute of silence was followed by Sara looking over to Akito and giving him a small smile. Akito just sighed and went over to his chair and sat back down, "As long as you're here, you will have to follow the house rules: follow my every command and don't get in anyone's way. Understood?"

Sara vigorously nodded her head. Akito just sighed heavily.

To be honest, Akito had no idea what to say, or what to do. He had just invited a random mute orphan to come and stay at the Sohma family main house. He couldn't just had her memory erased and just have the problem solved real fast. But for some odd reason…something that he couldn't explain...he let this girl stay here.

"I must be losing my mind…"

Sara tilted her head to the side, "Ahh…?"

Akito looked to her and couldn't help but smile at her extremely innocent expression.

Realizing that he was smiling, he quickly replaced it with a small frown. Seeing this, Sara giggled lightly and continued to stare at Akito's face.

Noticing that he was being stared at, he made a slightly upset face, "…WHAT?"

Not used to the sudden outburst, she yelped and went to just staring down at the floor. Once again, silent filled the room.

Finally, not being able to take the silence anymore, Sra stood up, causing Akito to look up to her, "…yes?"

She grinned and wrote in the small notebook, showing to Akito. It simply read, "Lets go for a walk?"

After reading it, Akito turned his gaze to look at Sara again, who had a sad-puppy-dog-eyes face on her.

Something happened then that probably no one would or could ever explain. Something stirred in his soul that he had never felt before. And, almost as if he just couldn't control the words coming from his mouth, he smiled a small smile and nodded, "Sure…I haven't gone on a walk for a while…"

Truth be told, he had NEVER gone on a walk…at least not a very enjoyable one.

* * *

Akito was at the front door when he noticed that Sara was still wearing the summer dress. He raised an eyebrow, "Is that the only item of clothing that you have?" Akito was wearing a dark blue yukata, much different from the kimono that he had on earlier.

Blushing, Sara nodded slowly, as if to say, "I'm so ashamed and embarrassed…"

Sighing, Akito took Sara by the hand and they started out the door.

At first they were walking around the nearest forest trail next to the main house in silence. That is, it was silent until Sara saw a small humming bird.

A small light blue humming bird was feeding on this big red flower. Sara had never seen a humming bird before in her life…meaning, she had no idea what a humming bird even was. She stood there in the middle of the walking path, staring at the strange small bird.

Akito stopped, too. He looked back and forth between Sara and the humming bird. That rare (though becoming not as rare) smile crossed his face, "It's a humming bird."

Sara looked instantly surprised, as if she wanted to say, "You mean that thing is a BIRD?"

He chuckled lightly at her amazed expression. Giggling, Sara turned away from the humming bird and started to skip down the path. Akito just calmly walked a little ways behind her.

During their walk, they ran into a snake, a few bees, plenty of pretty wild flowers, which Sara had picked a few to take back to the house, and they came across a lake that had a small family of ducks in it that made Akito smile, and Sara squeal in delight.

Finally, it began to get dark outside. The two were still at the small lake. Akito stood up and helped Sara to her feet as they walked home.

The only thing that the two had spaced on, was that the whole time that they were walking home, Akito had failed to realize that he was holding Sara's hand. Sara almost couldn't really tell. The both of them were almost too caught up in the day's events. Akito had a new house guest, Sara had just seen many animals that she'd either never seen before, or had never even heard of, and they both had just gone on a walk that they were bound to remember for a long time.

One thought/problem still remained…where was she going to sleep?

* * *

End Chapter 4

Shuichi: Hehehehe, ooooohhh, I know, I'm evil, aren't I? -dodges random flying objects- ...ACHEM...anywho, Read and Review, please! I wanna know what ya'll think of my story so far. Oh, and just so you all know...and just to taunt you all a little bit...the fifth chapter is all typed up and ready to go, so when I get more reviews...the chapter will come out very fast. What'cha think of them apples? -giggles while dodging more flying objects-


	5. In Which Akito Slips Up a Kiss

Disclaimer: I do not own Fruits Basket in any way, shape, or form…if you STILL want to sue me…well then, I'll have to say, you're dumb, and you need to go back to grade school.

Shuichi: OMG! I loved all of the reviews! I wasn't expecting very many. O.o; Well, thanks all the same!

Now…ON TO CHAPTER FIVE! …believe me, you'll love it…and you'll want more.

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Chapter 5 

That evening, Akito and Sara were back in that room. Akito was writing in a small book at his desk while Sara was sitting in a separate futon of her own which lied next to Akito's small bed, reading a random book.

* * *

Earlier, when they got back from their walk, Hatori had met them at the door. Of course, Hatori had no clue to who Sara was at the time, so you can imagine the shock and confusion that crossed over Hatori's face. 

But, after some more introductions, all was well…except that Hatori was still wondering why they were walking together holding hands…

After reaching the house, Akito received his daily check-up from Hatori, which went well considering Akito only had a very small fever of 99.6 degrees F. Sara was just sitting by watching.

Some time went by, before Akito's check-up was over with. Once Akito had his check-up and was sent to go lay down, Hatori went and helped Sara to set up some kind of sleeping arrangement. That sort of went like this:

Sara handed Hatori a piece of paper that read, "Where will I be sleeping?"

This caused Hatori to pause and stare at a random wall, "That's a good question…"

The problem: there were no empty rooms at the main house at the moment.

Hatori sighed and led Sara back to Akito's room holding Sara's bed things in his arms. Opening the door, Sara walked in first, then Hatori.

And, just like anyone else who's supposed to stay in bed…they never do. Instead of being in his bed sleeping, Akito was at his desk writing down something in a book that looked like it was handmade.

Hatori huffed, "You're supposed to be in bed…"

Akito just glared and rolled his eyes as he went back to writing.

"…Fine, suit yourself. There aren't any free rooms in the main house…"

"…Your point being?"

"Sara needs a place to sleep while she's here."

That statement caused Akito to break the tip of his pencil, "…and what are you implying by this…?"

Hatori cleared his throat, "Well…should Sara just stay in here?"

Akito looked over at Sara after Hatori spoke to see what she thought on the idea. She just shrugged her shoulders. She didn't seem to mind.

"…Fine. Set her things up next to my bed."

And that brings us back to the beginning of this chapter...

* * *

The book that Sara was reading was just some random book on birds and how to identify them. Akito was now not writing, but he was drawing random pictures in his book. 

After a good while, Akito looked up from his book to find Sara fast asleep on her bed, the book about birds lay forgotten on the floor next to her. Looking at the clock to see how late it was, "…one in the morning…"

Deciding that it was a little late to be up, Akito stood up and walked over to the two beds. He sat down on his bed, pulled up his blankets and was about to lay down to sleep, but not before he noticed that Sara didn't have any blankets over her.

Staring down at her face, it caused something in his chest to clench. Perhaps it was the way that the silver moonlight reflected off of her pale face, or the way the shadows made her seem so mysteriously beautiful to him. She looked so calm and peaceful while she slept, that Akito was almost reluctant to put her blankets over her for fear that it would disturb her sleep.

Trying to be as careful as he could, Akito picked up her blankets and slowly put them over her, bending down over her as he did so.

Unfortunately (or fortunately, depending on how you look at it) when Akito did this, his hand that remained on the floor slipped and just barely caught himself with his other hand that had the blankets and found himself about three inches away from Sara's face.

'Oh no…' this situation wouldn't have been so bad if it weren't for the fact that Akito's hand was slipping away from him again.

"…Oh…shit…"

And then…he slipped…

…and his lips came in contact with Sara's.

* * *

End Chapter 5 

Shuichi: Oh, I know, I'm evil as can be –dodges random flying metal objects- I'm sorry, I promise loads of fluffy scenes in the next chapter! I PROMISE!


	6. Thoughts and Surprises

Disclaimer: I do not own Furuba in anyway; so don't sue me, please?

WARNING: SPOILER FOR THE MANGA IN THIS CHAPTER!

And now, onto the long awaited chapter six of When Sakura Fall

* * *

So many different emotions were flying through Akito's head: surprise, shock, embarrassment, happiness, and there was a strange sensation in his chest that he had never felt before. He started to believe that there was something wrong with him…and it wasn't just the fact that his lips were currently on Sara's. His breathing was speeking up, his face felt warm, his heart felt like it was beating a million miles a minute, and his entire body was shaking as if someone dumped cold water over him…only he was perfectly warm.

Akito must have been sitting there, leaning over Sara kissing her for at least two full minutes. Finally, he slowly lifted himself up, trying not to wake her from her slumber. He sat in his bed, gazing down at her and putting his fingers over his lips…he'd never done that before…he'd never before in his life had kissed a woman before. Sure, he'd given his brother, Shigure, hugs and kisses when he was much younger. But this was much different. For starters, he was much older now…and this was a woman, not his older half-brother.

Akito twitched when he realized what this odd feeling was that was taking hold of him like a steel vice. He liked kissing her, even if it was an accidental kiss. He still admitted to himself that the did enjoy it, if not just a little bit. A small smile crossed over his mouth, "…I must really like this girl…"

He was about to lay down to dream and think about what he would say to the girl tomorrow, and if he was even going to tell her about this little incident at all, but then he stopped.

Akito's heat felt like it stopped beating all together. His eyes were wide with shock and fear to the point where he kind of resembled a deer in headlights.

He was only like this because now, looking up to him from her sleeping position was Sara, eyes open with a puzzled look and something else written on her face that he couldn't make out.

End of Chapter Six

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Shuichi: Hehehe, oh, the torment of my readers, I LOVE it! –dodges a whole salad bar as it's thrown at me- eh, heh heh…okay, okay, I'll try to cut down with the dramatic cliff-hangers, but at this point, it just seems good to have them. It adds suspense! -evil chuckle- Okay, review everyone! Lemme know what'cha thought of this chapter? 


	7. Is It Love?

Authors note: Yeah, I know, I haven't updated in a long time, but I had finals to do, and I was really sleepy these past few days after school got out. But! Don't you worry! I didn't come back empty handed! I have…..FLUFF for you all! MUWAHAHAHAHA!

…. Yeah….on with the story!

Chapter 7

* * *

For what seemed like many many hours, Akito and Sara just sat and stared at each other…or in Sara's case, laid and stared.

For once in a long time, Akito was at a loss for words. He had that "deer in the headlights" expression. He wasn't totally sure as to what he was supposed to do in a situation like this…and knowing that bothered him.

Sara on the other hand felt the need to say something…except that she couldn't say anything, so she sat up and tilted her head to the side instead. Did she not know what Akito had done just before she opened her eyes?

Akito cleared his throat, "Did you…just now wake up…?"

Blushing, Sara lowered her gaze to her hands that were resting in her lap and slowly shook her head causing Akito to feel a warm sensation to cross his cheeks. That caused a small giggle to escape Sara's lips.

Another odd moment of silence rose. Then, Akito, being one to have random outbursts of emotion, had an outburst of the emotion that was flowing through his entire body…

In one swift movement, Akito leaned over to Sara, his hand cupping the side of her cheek, lips softly brushing against Sara's. They stayed like that for a long time…well, no it was only two minutes.

When they both pulled away from the kiss, both were red in the face, their breathing had quickened a bit.

Akito's eyes seemed different in someway. They were…softer…no trace of any anger or madness. Sara smiled, noticing the change in Akito's gaze. She cautiously crawled over to Akito, onto his futon and nuzzled Akito with her face on his collarbone. Akito reacted by slowly placing his arms around Sara's small form, softly resting his chin on top of her head.

"…Are you…okay with this?"

Sara smiled and nuzzled more, enjoying the music that was his heart beating in his chest. Akito took that as a good sign, and softly kissed the top of Sara's head, resting his cheek on her head in the spot that he had just kissed.

In absolute truth, before now, he never had an outsider this close to him. In a way, it scared him. But the emotion that was flowing through most of his person was bliss, happiness and something else that he couldn't quite figure out…

Realization hit Akito like a frying pan to the face, '…_this can't be…love…can it_?'

* * *

End Chapter 7

Author's Note: So, what to ya'll think? Good? Bad? Lemme know by reviewing as much as possible! The more reviews, the better the chapter! By the way, I know it's short, but I promise that the next chapter will be longer!


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